560 mini]
DEFENCE
AAH under attack
The US Army's Advanced Attack
Helicopter (AAH) programme has got
off to a shaky beginning as one of
the competitors barely met the Sep
tember 30 deadline for initial hover
tests, the other missed it by a day,
and Congress blasted Army manage
ment of the programme as "totally
unacceptable and probably illegal"
(see Flight last week, page 523).
The Hughes Helicopters division of
Summa Corporation had to replace a
starter—and repair the resulting
damage to instrumentation leads—
before it could get its YAH-64 proto
type airborne late in the day on Sep
tember 30. However, once: in the air
at the company's test site at Palomar
Airport, Carlsbad, Calif, the helicopter
exceeded expectations. Hughes kept
it in the air for 38min and put it
through a series of paces including
taxiing, hovering, 360° turns, and
sideways, backwards, downwind and
crosswind flight. The helicopter
reached speeds of 25kt (the Army
limit for first flight was 40kt) and a
height of 20ft.
It was a different story at the Bell
Helicopter test site at Arlington,
Texas, where a series of technical
problems caused the company to miss
the deadline for its YAH-63 prototype.
One day late, on October 1, Bell did
manage to get the helicopter airborne
(see photograph), but the flights were
cut short by lateral vibrations. The
suspected cause was either an out-of-
balance or out-of-track rotor, accord
ing to US Army officials. The two
flights totalled only two-and-a-half
minutes.
The House Appropriations Com
mittee, meanwhile, in its report on
the Fiscal 76 Pentagon Appropriations
bill, complained that the Army had
overspent its budget on the AAH and
Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft
System (Uttas) helicopter programmes
by $23-4 million last year, thus forc
ing Congress to make up the differ
ence in this year's appropriation. The
report noted that this procedure
"circumvents Congressional control of
defence spending" and said that the
Army should have used its formal re-
programming authority or sought a
supplemental appropriation from Con
gress before permitting the contrac
tors to continue work.
At stake in the competition is an
estimated Army requirement for 472
AAHs. Each firm is required to de
liver two prototypes to the Army by
May 31, 1976, for a competitive fly-
off lasting about four months. The
winner, which is expected to be
announced by the autumn, will then
FLIGHT International, 16 October 1975
deliver three more AAHs to the Army
for testing with their avionics and
fire-control systems, and the planned
weapons—Tow missiles, 30mm can
non and 2-75in rockets.
Casa C-101 go-ahead
Construcciones Aeronauticas (Casa)
has been awarded a Spanish Air Min
istry contract to develop the C-101
basic and advanced trainer (see photo
graph), which has secondary roles,
including ground attack, armed
escort, armed and photographic re
connaissance, and use as an electronic
countermeasures (ECM) platform.
Casa will build two structural-test
airframes and four flying prototypes
at a cost of 1,297 million pesetas
($22 million) including flight-testing.
The first aircraft is scheduled to make
its maiden flight in 1977.
The C-101 has been designed for
low initial and operating costs, to
gether with simple maintenance.
It employs modular construction
methods. Northrop and MBB are
collaborating with Casa on manage
ment of the project.
Casa tells Flight that no choice of
powerplant has yet been made, apart
from the decision that it will be a
high-bypass-ratio turbofan. It has been
reported, however, that the engine
will be a Garrett TFE731, a contract
for the supply of which was purported
to have been signed on September 30.
Basic empty weight of the C-101
will be 4,8401b ± 5 per cent, maximum
take-off weight is planned to be
10,8801b ±3 per cent, maximum speed
at 20,000ft will be 400kt, range at
30,000ft is estimated at 1,640 n.m. and
endurance should be 4hr lOmin.
US lifts Turkish arms ban
The United States Congress agreed
on October 3 to lift its ban on arms
supplies to Turkey which was imposed
last February following the invasion
of Cyprus. Military equipment worth
$185 million, for which payment has
already been made, can now be
delivered and negotiations for more
arms can begin. The Turkish Foreign
Minister says, however, that the
The first flying prototype Bell YAH-63 Advanced
Attack Helicopter (AAH) made its maiden
flight at Arlington, Tex, on October I (see
news item). The pilots were Gene L. Colvin
and Ronald G. Erhart. The ground test vehicle
(GTV) completed SOhr running before the US
Army awarded Bell a formal safety-of-flight
release, trials including Shr operation at
110 per cent rotor speed. The GTV was also
used for more than SOhr of vibration, fuel-
calibration and controls proof-load tests
position of US bases and installations
in the country will have to be dis
cussed, there being no possibility of
their being re-opened immediately.
The Turkish Air Force can now
receive the remaining 22 F-4Es of its
order for 40, plus spares and arma
ment for the complete batch. The
Army will take delivery of Tow anti
tank missiles and the Navy will be
supplied with Harpoon anti-ship
weapons. The first two of four 400-ton
fast patrol boats which will carry
Harpoons were handed over in
Germany last month.
• The Italian Air Force is expected
to transfer between 20 and 30 F-104Gs
to bolster the TAF's present force of
33. These Starfighters would be addi
tional to the 40 F-104Ss being delivered
from Italy.
Iraq to receive Mirage F.ls
The Iraqi Air Force is to be supplied
with several squadrons of Dassault
Mirage F.ls, the sale being concluded
by the country's Vice-President during
his recent visit to France. Other
advanced weapons are likely to be
included in the deal.
US-Spanish arms deal
The United States has agreed to
supply Spain with military equipment
worth between $500 million and $700
million over the next five years, pro
vided that Congress gives its consent.
Spain had originally requested arms
worth twice this amount.
The United States, which has about
9,000 military personnel in the country,
will continue to use the air bases at
Torrejon and Saragoza, plus the sub
marine facility at Rota.